BWF World Championships 2022: Mixed doubles champs on their way to next round
Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand breezed through Choi Sol-Gyu and Shin Seung-chan of Korea, 21-11, 21-18, to start their TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022 mixed doubles campaign on the right foot.
The reigning champions went through the first game with relative ease. They never looked back after taking the lead from a 5-all tie. They even scored the last five points.
Puavaranukroh and Taerattanachai encountered some resistance in the second game, trailing by as many as four, 8-12. The score was tight until they had a 4-1 finishing kick.
The two combatants last fought each other at the 2018 Korea Open, the current world number two prevailing.
Victors Puavaranukroh and Taerattanachai will confront Mark Lamsfuß and Isabel Lohau on the round of 16. The Germans defeated Midorikawa Hiroki and Saito Natsu of Japan, 15-21, 21-13, 21-18.
In addition, Taerattanachai pulled a double duty on day three by outplaying Margot Lambert and Anne Tran of France with the help of Puttita Supajirakul, 22-20, 21-18, in women’s doubles. They will take on Bulgarian siblings Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva, who triumphed over Baek Ha-na and Lee Yu-rim of Korea, 21-13, 21-9.
In other matches, Higashino Arisa and Watanabe Yuta of Japan won against Ciara Torrance and Alexander Dunn of Scotland, 21-12, 21-7; while Shevon Jemie Lai and Goh Soon Huat of Malaysia trumped Jenny Moore and Gregory Mairs of England, 21-13, 21-18.
Overcoming opponents from the British Isles, both teams will be facing pairs from continental Europe in the following round.
In a bit of sad news, Fukushima Yuki and Hirota Sayaka of host Japan withdrew from the tournament. Fukushima is still recovering from an injured ACL that she suffered last year.
Their scheduled opposition, Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong of Singapore, will head to the next round of the women’s doubles event.
Author Details
JP is an all-around sportswriter who covered the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Gold Grand Prix 2009. Aside from BWF badminton he follows football, basketball, and pro wrestling.
